Lightning Comics (Vol. 2) #5
Doctor Nemesis
The board of directors at Mercy Hospital are meeting to discuss a series of suspicious accidents that have been happening around the hospital. They are concerned that if the accidents continue, patients will stop coming to the hospital. That’s when the phone rings and a man threatens to cause another accident unless the board pays a ransom of $25000. After a quick debate, the board of directors refuse to bow down to extortion and refuse to give into the demands.
The next day the extortioners respond by throwing a bomb at the hospital that blows up right wing of the building. Doctor James Bradley and the rest of the staff rush into the rubble to help those who were caught in the devastation. Seeing the horror at the scene, Doctor Bradley vows to investigate this attack as Doctor Nemesis. In his alter-ego, James pays a visit to Doctor Conn, who is on the board of directors. Nemesis suggests planting a fake news story about Conn knowing the identity of the attackers so they can draw them out. Doctor Conn agrees to this plan, and — since he is behind the “accidents” at the hospital — becomes concerned that Doctor Nemesis is getting involved in his affairs and begins planning to do something about it.
The next day, the authorities arrive to guard Doctor Conn, but he sends them away confident that his own gang will not attack him. Instead, he allows Doctor Nemesis to act as his bodyguard for the next three days. By this point, believing that he has lulled Nemesis into a sense of false security, Doctor Conn asks about the Doctor’s truth serum. When Doctor Nemesis pulls out a hypodermic needle with a sample of the serum, Doctor Conn fears that the vigilante might inject him and begins to panic. Doctor Nemesis finds this behavior strange and tries to subdue him. In the struggle, the hero manages to inject Doctor Conn and he confesses that he was attempting to extort the hospital out of money to cover the gambling debts he owes to the mob. That’s when two mobsters enter the room and manage to overpower Doctor Nemesis.
Having shaken off the effects of the truth serum, Doctor Conn has Doctor Nemesis taken to Mercy Hospital where he intends to kill the masked man in the massive incinerator in the hospital basement. Doctor Nemesis breaks free, knocking one of the armed thugs into the incinerator and knocking out the other. When Doctor Conn tries to make a run for it Doctor Nemesis follows. They run into the hospital security guard who insists that they come back inside out of the rain to explain things. Doctor Nemesis uses this opportunity to inject Doctor Conn with the truth serum again. This time, he has Conn confess his crimes over the hospital PA system as that everyone hears it. With Conn’s undeniable guilt revealed, he is taken into police custody.
Recurring Characters
Doctor Nemesis
